Pop Culture in the Baby Boomer Generation

Pop Culture in the Baby Boomer Generation

Allison Cobb

 

Popular culture is a conglomeration of ideas, attitudes, perspectives, images and other attributes that are valued by an era of a specific culture. Pop culture is heavily influenced by mass media which is ideas that are conveyed through mediums that can reach mass amounts of people. The two major mediums that affected this generation the most were TV and radios.(Campbell)  The radios played the music and the TV was able to expand its empire. “The Boomers…. were the first generation to be raised on TV, to be influenced by TV ads, to have their own record players, transistor radios and so on.” (Puente) They essentially created pop culture because before their time ideas were not so easily adopted seeing as there were fewer ways to spread them.

The Baby Boomer Generation [Born 1946–1964] is said by others to have many defining aspects of their era, definitely a complex makeup.  During their time they did see a positive turn for the country as far as social and economic equality are concerned, but additionally they experienced political turmoil and differing views on war and social issues. Seeing that this is true, the Baby Boomer generation was able to participate in some if the biggest social changes to ever come about the United States.

Some characteristics that defined the Baby Boomers as far as values go were valuing individual choice, community involvement, being prosperous, being aware of health and fitness, and finally and probably most importantly self-actualizing. This is the idea that no matter what others expect of or think of you, you will live up to your own expectations of yourself. It’s reaching a sort of equilibrium to where you are happy with whom you are as a person. These values stem from the fact that the Baby Boomers were said to be extremely liberal in their social views.

Attributes that defined the baby boomers included being goal-oriented, adaptive, especially in being able to work in many different work places, had a positive attitude and were focused on individual choices and freedom.

This makeup essentially ties in to the generations love for Rock and Roll music. Singers and bands including Elvis, The Beatles, and the Rolling Stones are just a few examples that resonated coinciding views of this Baby Boomer generation that included rebellion, and anti-authority.

To learn more about the Baby Boomer generation you can visit the following links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAHTe4wpZqE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhR6ue8kydE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8hbtyGRS4U

As an interesting side note pertaining to the last hyperlink, a major idea that developed during this generation was that satanic messages were hidden in many famous songs which could be revealed by playing the songs backwards. This idea literally caught on like wildfire which further proves my point of how quickly ideas were spread during this time.

Bibliography

Campbell, Kim. "The Many Faces of the Baby Boomers." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 26 Jan. 2005. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0126/p15s02-lihc.html>.

Puenta, Maria. "Boomers Rocked the Culture, Turning TV, Pop Music into Art - USATODAY.com." Boomers Rocked the Culture, Turning TV, Pop Music into Art - USATODAY.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2012. <http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2010-12-30-boomerarts30_CV_N.htm>.